Hello from Australia…

To catch you up, we moved to Australia to get our MBA’s about 18 months ago and Eko LOVES it here.

Quarantine..

He had to do 30 days in quarantine, which was likely more stressful for us than him, but we all survived. We hired a dog walker to do his exercise visits since we sent him early and couldn’t be there (we were getting married in Mexico first). She sent lots of photos to ease our hearts and he did well!

The process to move a dog here was intensive and started 6 mos out to keep his quarantine time to bare minimum. I heard now they are looking to drop it to 2 weeks! That would be awesome.

Eko at 2 Years

I can’t imagine not having Mr. Eko in our lives. He’s just over 2 yrs now and really settling down. The best thing we every did is start our puppy training early with lots of toys. He loves his toys (he has a toy box) which has kept him from being destructive (whew). Now that he’s settled down and bit and is fairly well trained (with the occasionally independent cheeky moves, but that’s likely because he’s so smart), we are looking at starting training for him to be a hearing dog for me (I’m hearing impaired). We’ll see how that goes and see if we can get a program. Training your own dog is fairly new here (they tend to raise dogs themselves and donate) so it has been tough to find a trainer. Our upcoming move to the big city will make that easier.

The Beach

We are currently on the Gold Coast, South of Brisbane and live a few blocks from the beach. His favourite activity is a trip to the dog off-leash beaches. We have several other great parks and he has become quite the water dog. Funny story – here (since about 7 yrs ago) it is illegal to crop dog tails in all of Australia, so we get lots of comments and our vet had to certify that it was done prior to coming here. We think its a funny rule and he certainly looks cute! With his constant tail wagging I am not sure I’d want it long.

Best Friends or Best Mates –either works!

My good friend here has a two year old standard poodle and they have become best mates. Both are quite ball obsessed so it is entertaining when they go to the park or the beach.

As for the future, now that school is complete, my husband just accepted a job in Sydney so it looks like we are staying and making a move there in the next few months. Should be good for all of us. I’m sure Eko, now having lived half his life here, has quite the Aussie accent – ha ha!

I hope you love the attached photos of our handsome man! He’s the best – Thank you!!!

Breeder’s Note: You may remember Eko had an extraordinary upbringing in the Seattle area. The lengths to which these folks went to get him raised in the current living situation speaks volumes about the kind of folks Eko calls his own. One thing we have learned over time is that the ideal setting is not as important, as the commitment to see this process through. There is more than one way to raise the Weimaraner puppy, but they all require dedication, follow-through, and knack. You might want to look back at their early experience raising Eko in an apartment setting. Here is one of the links from Eko’s early training. (Click here!) He also had a very special potty area (a special sod box) built to accommodate his early bathroom needs. Everything thing these folks did to incorporate Eko into their lives was done with dedication and love.  We thank them for that!